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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Melissa of Mama Mel Loves blog has some fun quilt projects going on over at her blog. Be sure to visit. This quilt is a fun idea for a wedding gift. What a great idea, and a thoughtful gift.

I began making quilts about a year ago, and I am now addicted to quilting. :) In December after making my 4th quilt, I decided to start a goal for 2010... making a quilt a month, for a total of at least 12 quilts for the year. Most of the quilts I have made have been for family or friends. I have told them my goal for the year, and many of them know that they will receive a quilt from me sometime this year. :) In January, as I was online searching for wedding gift ideas for my sister, I came across this website (http://www.allcrafts.net/myweddingquilt.htm), where the bride-to-be decided to use quilt signature blocks as her wedding guestbook, then quilted them together after the wedding, although the website doesn't show the completed project.

I thought it was such a lovely, unique idea, that I immediately asked my sister if I could do this for her as her wedding gift. She thought it was cool also, so I began searching for fabric that suited her. She ended up choosing the fabric, Moda's Eden by Lila Tueller. Her wedding colors were pink and green, so the collection was pretty much perfect for her.

At the wedding, I set up a small table with a sign that had a generic image of the quilt-to-be, along with instructions, a plastic bag full of permanent fabric pens, and the signature blocks. Although not everyone participated, I was very happy with the number of guests who did! I also waited a while for some more family members to get their belated signature blocks delivered to me. I decided to omit the purples that were in the collection of fat quarters that I got, and used only the pinks, greens and yellows.

The white rectangles are the signature blocks from people who attended her wedding. I used Kona Snow for these. Each completed block is 13" square. I started cutting the fabric in February, started piecing in March, and finally completed the quilt in May. It shouldn't have taken me this long, but I was sick a couple of times during the process and had to put quilting on hold. The completed quilt is a twin size, the largest quilt I've made so far! I did an all-over meandering quilt with some occasional "sloppy hearts" mixed in. :) I quilted around the writing, since I wanted these blocks to stand out more. And on the back, I used more Kona Snow with some leftover Eden blocks pieced in for extra color.

Not sure why this appears wrinkly... It really doesn't look like this in person. I presented the quilt to my sister and new brother-in-law all rolled up. I loved how it looked! My sister had mentioned she wanted a little bit of brown in the quilt, if possible, so I decided to make the binding a light brown that matches some of the outlines of the birds in the fabric. I also quilted using a tan colored thread. I wrapped the "quilt roll" using this cute twill tape I found on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/lillalotta). It says, "Happily Ever After" all over. So perfect! :)

So, so lovely! Great choice of fabrics, and a perfect way to turn the (dreaded, if you ask me) guest book into something useful and lovely! A true keepsake.

I've been thinking about doing something like this for a shower gift/project (baby or wedding shower), or as a new baby gift, by sending the signature blocks around to friends and family. Now I may have to actually do it!

Thanks, everyone! And thanks for featuring me here at Quiltstory! :) @ Jackie: I am finishing up the binding on quilt #10, so I only have 2 more to go before I'm done with my goal for the year. However, I am planning on making at least 6 more for the year. Gotta have some Christmas gifts! :)